Betrayed

By John Gosebo

Corruption in South Africa has reached epidemic levels and threatens the lives of all citizens. Global Financial Integrity (a research and advocacy organisation based in Washington DC) said in a report that South Africa had suffered an illegal outflow of R185-billion due to corruption in the public sector between 1994 and 2008. It is estimated that in 2009 government corruption totalled R70-billion
News24, 8 May 2012

This book reads like a crime thriller. People are abducted. Others get murdered. There are betrayals and false accusations. There are gripping courtroom scenes and dazzling legal arguments, as Tom Triton wriggles out of his latest crisis.
He’s young and exceedingly wealthy, but as his adventure unfolds, much more is revealed than the twists and turns of an exciting plot. The picture of a country in serious moral crisis emerges to form the backdrop against which the plot is played out. Indeed it mingles freely with the plot. Corrupt act follows corrupt act. Fraudulent collusion between business and elements within the state is exposed.
Finally, the picture is unmistakable: Tom nearly becomes the victim of a corrupt system that he himself has helped to build. He is saved only by a brilliant lawyer and the loyalty of his father’s friend. Which way will Tom jump?

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Gosebo
• Release date: Nov 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781920609924

John Gosebo

This book is written under a pseudonym. John Gosebo is the pen name of a legal academic working at a major South African university.

Book preview

1

IT WAS 09h45 when the black Range Rover parked outside Triton & Associates’ offices in Sandton, one of the more exclusive suburbs in Johannesburg. Rachel Kriel, the company’s receptionist for the past three years, had been seated at her desk since 07h30. Triton & Associates, owned by Tom Triton, occupied and owned this beautiful marble-walled building. Its full staff complement comprised Rachel, a typist, a cleaner, three drivers and a cook.

While there was a lot of office space, Tom Triton did not wish to share his space with anyone. The ground floor comprised of Tom Triton’s spacious office with a bedroom and en suite bathroom, and a lounge. The second and third floors were mainly unoccupied, with only one room on the third floor used by the company’s typist.

The three-storey building owned by Triton & Associates had been built just over six years ago as the headquarters of Tom’s multi-million rand empire. At the age of 29, Triton was already an accomplished businessman with a net worth speculated at about four hundred million rand. He drove a Range Rover that he bought for two million and stayed just around the corner from his office.

His three houses were together valued at fifty million rand. He prided himself that he had never been an employee even for one hour in his life. He hosted weekly parties at his house or at his nightclub where only the rich and famous were invited. He was known for having an eye for very beautiful women, though it was also known that he had commitment problems in relationships. He admitted that he was not interested in anyone who would become emotionally attached to him. He preferred, as he usually put it, to engage in ‘one night stands’.

‘Has the boardroom been prepared for the meeting?’ Tom Triton asked Rachel without preliminaries such as greetings. He had no time for such pleasantries, especially with his employees. He only engaged in such pleasantries strictly when he did not have the upper hand, such as when dealing with an important client or business associate.

‘Yes, Mr Triton,’ Rachel, the secretary, replied.

‘Have you confirmed with the chief’s office that he will be here personally?’ Mr Triton demanded to know as he proceeded towards his office without breaking his stride.

‘Yes, Mr Triton. His secretary told me that Commissioner Lomo will attend the meeting,’ explained the secretary.

‘All good, Rachel. Now tell Thabo to bring me my breakfast immediately,’ ordered Mr Triton.

‘Yes, Mr Triton,’ responded the secretary, already reaching for the phone on her desk to contact the cook.

THABO MALWA had been responsible for Tom Triton’s meals for the past two years. Triton only ate home-prepared meals and Thabo always followed him around with his food. Triton would call for his food at unpredictable times, and often did not eat at all. But, as all his employees knew, hell broke loose should the food not be immediately ready when he called for it. Fortunately for Thabo, Triton did not spare any costs when it came to spending on groceries. Thabo had a blank cheque and could buy as much as he thought he needed. That way he always had enough supplies. It was just as well, because his kitchen (as he fondly called it) only closed when Mr Triton slept. Even then, it was not unusual for Thabo to be called in the early hours of the morning to bring his boss coffee. The last time he had been woken at 02h55 for a bottle of still water. This had upset Thabo very much because he had only gone to bed at 01h30 after having taken care of Triton and his visitors. And he had made sure that the refrigerator in his boss’s bedroom was stocked with everything he could possibly need.

After receiving that call, he had gone straight to the bedroom where his boss was laying half clothed on the edge of the bed, opened the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of water the contents of which he poured into a class and handed to Triton. He did not even get as much as a ‘thank you’, let alone an apology for disturbing his sleep at that time of the night.

Despite this mistreatment, Thabo was very happy with the remuneration he got from his boss. He earned sixteen thousand rand per month, which was four times more than he had earned in his previous job as a cook in one of the restaurants in town. He had heard that Triton was looking for a full time cook and expressed his availability through his cousin, who was a business partner of Triton’s. Moreover, being woken up at 02h00 or so in the morning was a small inconvenience given all the time he had to himself and his boss did not mind him sleeping at any time – so long as he was available when called upon. His kitchens, both at home and at his boss’s workplace, were furnished with a couch where he could always dose off.

‘Here is your breakfast, Mr Triton,’ said Thabo humbly as he placed a tray containing four food containers on the table.

‘What have you prepared?’ asked Triton who, without waiting for a reply, continued: ‘I hope there is a lot of meat in this food. You seem to be on some mission to starve me to my early grave. Don’t you have enough for groceries or do you take it all to your home?’

‘There is enough meat, Mr Triton. But I can bring some more if you need it. I have enough in the kitchen’, responded Thabo who, as always, seemed unperturbed by his boss’s accusations and insinuations. Before he took up this job, his cousin had warned him about the bossy and bullying nature of Triton and that as long as he did his job properly and followed all Triton’s instructions there would be no problems. Thabo had taken this advice to heart.

Thabo quietly left Mr Triton to his breakfast and exited back to the kitchen. He knew that he would get a call to collect the dishes and clean up in about twenty to thirty minutes but he had to remain in the kitchen because Triton could call for him any time. He would often call on Thabo to come and pour a drink or coffee for him despite it being right in front of him. This Thabo and Rachel referred to as ‘acting boss.’ He had to remind them that they were wholly at his service and were expected to do whatever he asked without questioning. As Triton was busy with his breakfast of pork ribs, tripe, bacon, bread and beans which Thabo had prepared the previous evening, his telephone rang. This annoyed him because Rachel knew he was having his breakfast and should not be disturbed while doing so. After shortly entertaining a thought of ignoring the phone and then firing Rachel later for disobeying his orders, he decided to answer it.

‘Why are you disturbing my breakfast?’ asked Triton into his phone’s speaker.

‘It is Commissioner Lomo, Mr Triton, and he says it is very urgent,’ explained the secretary nervously.

‘Put him through then. But do not ever disturb me while I am having my breakfast. I do not care if it is the President of the country,’ he admonished Rachel in an icy tone.

‘Morning, Chief, and what an honour to receive a call from you as always’, said Triton meekly and with a great show of deference. Rachel had once informed the drivers that Mr Triton was not as tough and intimidating in nature as he would like them to believe. She had often overheard him speaking to clients, business associates and his mother, and she had thought that must be his Siamese twin because only the looks were that of Triton but the demeanour that of a very humble and considerate man. The drivers had all dismissed her as talking rubbish of the highest order. Their Mr Triton was arrogant and mean and, as Tim (one of the drivers) explained, there was a better chance of hell freezing over than Triton being even remotely polite.

‘There is no time for niceties, Triton. The fools are on to us,’ said Commissioner Lomo urgently on the phone. ‘They have issued a warrant of arrest against Tim Stein. I saw it. We need to talk urgently and somewhere private,’ said Lomo in a tone that made it clear that this was not a request.

‘You name the place and the time and I will be there, Chief,’ responded Triton.

‘Just be ready and do not go anywhere until you hear from me. I still want to investigate this matter further to find out how damaging it can be to both of us. And, Triton, please never call me again until this settles down as I think this can be quite bad for both of us, and many other people besides,’ lectured Lomo.

‘Yes, sir,’ responded Triton meekly.

LOMO HAD been friends with Triton’s father until he died ten years ago. They had been involved in the South African anti-apartheid struggle. While Triton’s father had never left the country, Lomo had been in exile in Zambia and only returned to South Africa in 1991 after the unbanning of the organisations involved in the liberation struggle. After returning to South Africa, Lomo had been involved in the CODESA negotiations. He was given an ambassadorial position after the transfer of political power, serving abroad until he was called back two years later to be the MEC for economic development in Mpumalanga Province. He served as the MEC until he was promoted to the rank of National Commissioner of the South African Police Service.

His friendship with Triton had started even before Triton’s father died. Lomo had been encouraging Triton senior to actively participate in the economy of the country. According to Lomo, the struggle would have been in vain if comrades did not take full advantage of the opportunities available to them. While Triton senior always shot Lomo’s ideas down, the young Triton was always impressed by Lomo. While his father drove around in an old car and earned a meagre salary as a teacher, Lomo had access to many nice things in life. He had flashy cars and bodyguards. The first time he visited Lomo’s house with his father, Tom was so impressed by the Lomo residence that he opined that it must be the finest residence in the whole world. When he discussed his excitement about the residence with his father, all his father said was:

‘Tom, I hope I will not regret having brought you to this house. If it gives you the impression that there is an easy way to the good life I beg you, my son, just remember that what comes easily goes easily.’

Tom Triton had not understood. Neither could he understand why his father always shot Lomo down when he offered him opportunities. After all, they were comrades and Lomo was just trying to make life easier for all of them.

That evening, Tom told his mother that he would like to make use of the opportunities that Lomo was offering his father. His mother asked him to promise that he would not inform his father of his plans. She also requested him to shelve this plan until he had matriculated because it would break his father’s heart if he ventured into the business world or politics at the expense of his studies. Tom was in Grade 11 at the time. He had promised his father that he would study to become an engineer.

His father had been extremely pleased with this news and informed Triton that he had saved enough to see him through his university studies comfortably and he would even get his own car if he passed his first year of study at university with an average of sixty five per cent. While at university, Tom asked his mother for Commissioner Lomo’s contact details. He had passed his Grade 12 admirably with four A’s thereby pleasing his father who, uncharacteristically, changed his plan and bought him a Fiat Sienna as a reward for sterling performance. He also justified this generosity by explaining that this good performance had relieved him of the responsibility to pay university fees because it had assured Tom a bursary.

After getting Lomo’s contact details, Tom e-mailed Lomo, informing him that he was at university and would like to know if he could rely on him for mentoring because he had realised that university education was not enough if one wanted to make it in life and enjoy good things. Tom awaited a response for over two weeks. After giving up and concluding that Lomo was not interested in mentoring him and that he was probably not even genuine in the offers he kept making to his father, he received a very short e-mail that simply read: ‘Am in Cape Town in two days’ time. Give me a phone number so that I can contact you.’

The e-mail was not signed but it was clear that it came from Lomo’s e-mail address. Tom phoned his mother and informed her of these developments. His mother, who sounded unusually nervous, said she was going to call Lomo immediately and inform him not to discuss this meeting with her husband. She also advised Tom never to discuss this with his father. For the first time, Tom was to understand his father’s reservations about opportunities offered by Lomo and other comrades. She went into a long but heartfelt exposition of her husband’s reasons, only allowing her son time to respond by uttering ‘eh’ or ‘oh’ as a sign that he was still paying attention.

Tom Triton was always to remember, word for word, a particularly disturbing portion of his mother’s eloquent speech. ‘Your father is worried about the influence Lomo and his other comrades may have on you. He is hoping that with a solid university education you will be less impressionable. You are also the reason why he does not wish to participate in the business opportunities that they keep on offering him. He thinks that they will offer you a nice life which will eventually destroy you. Of course, Lomo is aware of this. Your father often told him to stay away from you with his money-making schemes. But I think it is a bit unfair to deprive you of such opportunities if other comrades’ children can have access to them. Your father is very pleased with your university studies right now and I think knowing about this meeting may just upset him. So I allow you to go to the meeting with Lomo but please keep it from your father. And do not lose focus: your father is often right and I am reluctant to go against his advice. Besides, he knows his comrades